Tilak and Jinnah

I happened to the a Marathi Movie that released earlier this year called "Tilak: Ek Yugpurush". A fantastically made movie clearly shook me from inside. The movie and the quest to understand the Indian Freedom movement made me do a bit of research for myself. Let me share some things I found. 

Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak first leader of the Indian Independence Movement. The British colonial authorities called him "Father of the Indian unrest." He was also conferred with the honorary title of "Lokmanya", which literally means "accepted by the people (as their leader)".

Tilak was one of the first and strongest advocates of "Swaraj" (self-rule) and a strong radical in Indian consciousness. He is known for his quote in Marathi, "स्वराज्य हा माझा जन्मसिद्ध हक्क आहे आणि तो मी मिळवणारच" ("Swarajya is my birthright, and I shall have it!") in India. Not many people know this but he formed a close alliance with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, later the founder of Pakistan, during the Indian Home Rule Movement.

Just outside the grand, wood-panelled Central Court in Mumbai High court stands a marble tablet with these lines inscribed in stone: “In spite of the verdict of the Jury, I maintain that I am innocent. There are higher powers that rule the destiny of men and nations and it may be the will of providence that the cause which I represent may prosper more by my suffering than my remaining free.”

Tilak was tried on three occasions by the Bombay High Court, for inflammatory speeches and sedition. On one occasion — the occasion on which Tilak spoke those line — his defence lawyer was Muhammad Ali Jinnah. In 1916, Jinnah defended Tilak when he was charged with sedition, ultimately securing his acquittal. 

Jinnah's commitment to Indian freedom was in many ways formed by his relations with Tilak and another Indian National Congress leader, Gopal Krishna Gokhale.

Images of mighty historical figures often circulate as fond stereotypes — good, bad and ugly. They also have the power of indoctrinating society into believing that they are inviolable. If Tilak is routinely identified with his “Swaraj is my birthright” assertion, Jinnah is invariably hailed as the creator of Pakistan. 

Scholars and the public at large in both India and Pakistan need to revisit Jinnah's person and political legacy in an attempt to better understand this region's history.  It is important for Indians to reclaim Jinnah as a freedom fighter and integral figure in our own history, while Pakistanis need to acknowledge that the founder of their nation made some mistakes.

I am sure I cannot and shall not stop here. The quest to know what and how the ugliest divorce (India- Pakistan Partition) in the history of mankind took place cannot end here. The answer, I am sure, cannot be in black and white, as the history  taught to us in India would like us to believe.